SAN SABA, Texas (KXXV) — A wildfire that started Wednesday night on a pecan orchard continued Thursday. Firefighters battled the blazing fire.
- Over 600 acres lost.
- Cause of fire: A skid steer mounted saw, cutting trees.
- Fire over 50% contained.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
“You can just see the smoke rolling across the road," Stetson Allison, a San Saba Volunteer Fire Department firefighter said.
Stetson Allison said a fire started on a pecan orchard, damaging hundreds of acres of land. Allison, a San Saba Volunteer Fire Department firefighter, was working at the Feedlot, a restaurant in town, when she was called out to battle the fire.
“So the wind was coming out of the West, and it was just rolling, one that fire jumped over into a coastal field it went in," Allison said, "We were trying our best, but it was getting out of hand."
Allison has only been with the fire department for 10 months but said this isn’t the only fire he’s battled. He said they worked all night to tackle the blaze. One official with Texas A&M Forest Services said the cause of the fire was a skid steer mounted saw, cutting trees.
“Please refrain from doing anything outside that will cause heat or a spark. This includes welding on fences and using cutting torches. Even just something minimal spread quickly and grew to over 600 acres," Public Information Officer, Kiley Moran with Texas A&M Forest Services said.
Moran said they were prepared for anything, but it could have been much worse for our Richland Springs neighbors.
“Our crews have been ready to go all week, we knew that the weather partners we’ve been having were going to make everything more prone to burning, especially the dry dormant grasses in the area," Moran said.
For Allison, they're not breathing a sigh of relief just yet.
“Let’s hope they get those hotspots out for tomorrow, if not it can be bad again," Allison said.
